Winter Olympics – Big Stories Ahead!

Every four years, the biggest spectacle in sports rolls into the mountains – the Winter Olympics. This year’s games are in Milan and Cortina, bringing winter sports to northern Italy.

Battling with climate change hugely impacting snow levels, and still in the aftermaths of the Russian doping scandal that rocked both Sochi and Pyeongchang, these Olympics certainly don’t lack narratives. Will there be enough snow? Will the venues be built on time? Without Russian athletes, who will dominate figure skating? Time will tell, but for now Dakota Johnson looks at the stories unfolding at this year’s games.

The biggest pre-games news has been that the USA’s Lindsay Vonn will be competing, despite rupturing her ACL. At 41, Vonn is a highly-decorated athlete, which includes three olympic medals – her gold medal coming in the downhill event in Vancouver, 2010.

Given the seriousness of the injury (ACL injuries have a notoriously long recovery time and more often than not require surgery), most expected Vonn to withdraw, yet with this being probably her last Olympics, it’s easy to understand why she believes it’s worth pushing through. While Vonn has admitted she stands less of a chance of placing higher following the injury, she is determined to make it to the start gate in Cortina.

Skate Away

Meanwhile, the world of figure skating, whilst known for controversy, seems to be rebuilding its reputation and integrity following the banning of athletes from the Russian Federation after the doping scandal rocked the sport.

Although, 13 Russian athletes have been allowed to compete under the banner of authorised neutral athletes nevertheless, one of them being 18-year-old Adeliia Petrosian. Coached by the notorious Eteri Tutberidze, Petrosian will compete in this year’s games against the backdrop of not only concerns around doping, but also the ongoing war being raged by Russia in Ukraine – another reason why Russian and Belarussian athletes have not been welcome at international competition.

With the gold medal having been dominated by Russia for some time now, Petrosian on skill alone in any other circumstances would be good odds to keep the medal in her home country, but other factors have meant she is under intense scrutiny, and has to contend with debate about whether she should be there at all. 

The lack of Russian athletes does open the door to others however; Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto is the favourite to take gold, four years on from her bronze in Pyeongchang. Current European Champion Niina Petrokina will go to Italy hoping to be able to compete with Japanese and American favourites, long time heavy weights in the sport.

Petrokina goes to her first Olympics after battling a severe illness – after a difficult competition she saw a doctor about feeling fatigued, leading to her being diagnosed with aplastic anemia, a potentially fatal condition that led to her needing a bone marrow transplant. Now, she is healthy and able to manage her condition, and says she is driven by knowing she almost had to quit ice-skating completely. Whether or not this will translate into a medal against Japanese and American heavyweights, remains to be seen. 

Media Storm

Elsewhere, you may remember the unfortunate media storm at the last summer Olympics, when female boxer Imane Khelif won the gold and immediately faced backlash regarding her gender, hormone levels, and questions about whether she is actually “a woman.” This time around, those who took issue with Khelif are going to be slightly confused, despite in theory getting exactly what they wanted.

Swedish mogul skier Elis Lundholm is a trans man, but will be competing in the women’s event, as policies allow him to do so. Despite this, he still has faced backlash from many, with the general implication seemingly being that trans-people should not be allowed to compete at all. Having made his debut at the 2024 world cup, Lundholm has won four Swedish championship medals, and while not a medal favourite is an accomplished skier.

Given the tightening of regulations around transgender athletes in the last few years, Lundholm’s inclusion does feel like one of the last times we will see a trans person compete at this level, especially in a political environment where even women who were assigned female at birth have to fight to prove themselves. 

Summer/Winter

Finally, looking at everyone’s favourite winter sport bobsledding, you might recognise some of the names – but not from winter sports.

Adele Nicoll and Ashleigh Nelson both got their starts elsewhere, Nicoll in shotput and Nelson in sprinting, even appearing for Team GB in two summer editions of the games (Beijing 2008 and Tokyo 2020). It was Nicoll who reached out to Nelson, after she dabbled in the sport during a COVID lockdown before getting in touch with the former runner. The two then became the first women’s pair to win a medal for Team GB in 13 years, and hope to put in a strong performance at the Olympics. While still being relatively new to the sport. 

These are just a few of the most interesting stories in women’s winter sport going into these games. As always, there’s sure to be twists and turns along the way as few winter Olympics have passed by without some kind of controversy.

For Team GB especially, this could be a very strong year, but competition is harder than ever as the sports grow in popularity and receive more funding across the world.

The games, and including the opening ceremony at the San Siro, will be shown live across the BBC in the UK, and on TNT Sport.

Photos: Instagram